g.

He floated in a featureless dull gray void, without stars, without
worlds. _So this is hyperspace_, he thought. He felt tired, and he felt
tense. He had reached hyperspace; that was half the struggle. It
remained to see whether he would come out where he expected to come out,
or whether he would come out at all.

* * * * *

Four days of boredom. Four days of wishing that the time would come to
leave hyperspace. And then the automatic pilot came to life; the Cavour
generator thrummed and signalled that it had done its work and was
shutting down. Alan held his breath.

He felt the twisting sensation. The _Cavour_ was leaving hyperdrive.

Stars burst suddenly against the blackness of space; the viewscreen
brightened. Alan shut his eyes a moment as he readjusted from the sight
of the gray void to that of the starry reaches of normal space. He had
returned.

And, below him, making its leisurely journey to Procyon, was the great
golden-hulled bulk of the _Valhalla_, gleaming faintly in the black
night of space.

He reached for the controls of his ship radio. Minutes later, he heard a
familiar voice--that of Chip Collier, the _Valhalla's_ Chief Signal
Officer.

"Starship _Valhalla_ picking up. We read you. Who is calling, please?"

Alan smiled. "This is Alan Donnell, Chip. How goes everything?"

For a moment nothing came through the phones but astonished sputtering.
Finally Collier said thickly, "_Alan?_ What sort of gag is this? Where
are you?"

"Believe it or not, I'm hovering right above you in a small ship.
Suppose you get my father on the wire, and we can discuss how I'll go
about boarding you."

Fifteen minutes later the _Cavour_ was grappled securely to the skin of
the _Valhalla_ like a flea riding an elephant, and Alan was climbing in
through the main airlock. It felt good to be aboard the big ship once
again, after all these years.

He shucked his spacesuit and stepped into the corridor. His father was
standing there waiting for him.

"Hello, Dad."

Captain Donnell shook his head uncomprehendingly. "Alan--how did you--I
mean--and you're so much older, too! I----"

"The Cavour Drive, Dad. I've had plenty of time to develop it. Nine good
long years, back on Earth. And for you it's only a couple of months
since you blasted off!"

Another figure appeared in the corridor. Steve. He looked good; the last
few months aboard the _Valhalla_ had done their work. The unhea